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Author: aaron.traffas

It was a beautiful day at the Kansas State Fair on September 12. After those who attend Kansas Auctioneer Day spent the morning enjoying the fair while the board of directors had a meeting, everyone gathered at the Bretz & Young Injury Lawyers Arena for our 28th Annual Kansas Auctioneer Championship to support our ten talented finalists. Shannon Schur, Barrett Bray, Jeff Craig and Vern Koch were the esteemed judges with the pleasure of determining who the next champion would be. After each contestant sold two items, scores were tallied and then the top five contestants answered interview...

Since 1992, auctioneers throughout Kansas and the surrounding states have traveled to Hutchinson to compete with one another at the Kansas State Fair, vying for the title of Auctioneer Champion. The Kansas Auctioneers Association (KAA) hosts the Auctioneer Championship that will be held this year on the stage of the Bretz and Young Injury Lawyers Arena at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, September 12. This public auction will give all fairgoers the opportunity to bid and buy from the best auctioneers in the state. The public is encouraged to attend and observe the contest or participate by placing bids....

The preliminary round of competition for the 2018 Kansas Auctioneer Championship was held in Wichita, Kansas, on January 26. The top ten from this preliminary round advance to the finals at the State Fair on September 12. Congratulations to the top ten qualifiers! We'll see you in Hutchinson! Contestants in competition order. Donnie Stumpff
Ross Daniels
Hunter Sturgis
Tony Wisely
Karl Allen
Titus Yutzy
Troy Wedel
Ty Patton
Jessica Pluff
Arlin Eicher
Nick Nelson
Daniel Gutierrez

Excellent networking and auctioneer education, plus the 2018 KAA Auctioneer Championship preliminary round at the DoubleTree by Hilton Wichita Aiport.
Thursday while the Board of Directors has its Board meeting and the President-Elect, Kevin Borger, has a meeting with Past President's, everyone else enjoys the President's Reception.
Friday kicks off with real estate courses so members who deal with real property can get their continuing education hours for license renewal. This year, the Required Salesperson/Broker Core: Agency Toolbox Essentials with Amanda Rempe and elective cour...

The finals for KAA's 2017 Kansas Auctioneer Championship were held on September 13 at the Bretz & Young Injury Lawyers Arena at the Kansas State Fair in Hutchinson, Kansas. The 2017 Kansas Auctioneer Champion is Julia Sparks of Manhattan. The reserve champion is Justin Banzhaf of Cambridge, Nebraska. Third place was Tony Wisely of Perry, Oklahoma. Donnie Stumpff of Cassville, Missouri, placed fourth and Josh Miller of Beloit, Kansas, rounded out the top five. Sparks took home the Champions belt buckle, plaque, $200 cash prize, membership to the National Auctioneers Association and an ent...

All great things must end. On March 4, Richard Garvin, CAI, ATS, CES, GPPA, will be conducting his retirement auction, selling the fixtures in his auction facility in addition to consignment merchandise. While he plans to continue to conduct real estate, coin and firearm auctions, his days of operating a consignment facility in Topeka are coming to a close. Not only does Richard have a distinguished career as a leader in the auction industry, he has selflessly given back to the KAA, serving as KAA's president in 2013 and as the presidential appointee in 2015. In 2009, he received the Pr...

The 2017 KAA Winter Convention featured excellent networking opportunities and auctioneer education in addition to the 2017 KAA Auctioneer Championship preliminary round. It all started off on Thursday evening with the president's reception, KAA board meeting and the past presidents' meeting with incoming president, Aaron Traffas. Real estate continuing education courses were held Friday during the day with a required broker core course entitled "RISK – Your Business is Not a Game" by the Wichita Area Association of REALTORS® and an elective course called "Elevating Your Real Estate Auction S...

Congratulations to Yve Rojas, your 2016 Kansas Auctioneer Champion. We'll update this post with additional details from the contest soon, but here are pictures and video from the competition held September 14 in Hutchinson, Kansas.

In April, the board of directors traveled to Topeka to meet with Governor Sam Brownback. The governor signed a proclamation declaring April to be Auctioneer's Month, but he was out of the office when the KAA arrived. President Robert Haley got to sit in the big chair!

The preliminary round of competition for the 2016 Kansas Auctioneer Championship is complete. The top ten from this preliminary round advance to the finals at the State Fair on September 14. Congratulations to the top ten qualifiers! Justin Ball
Justin Banzhaf
Trisha Brauer
Josh Miller
Russ Puchala
Yve Rojas
Brad Sosebee
Toney Thornhill
Tony Wisely
Titus Yutzy We'll see you in Hutchinson! Contestant pictures Finalists

On April 29, the board of directors traveled to Topeka to meet with Governor Sam Brownback. The governor signed a proclamation declaring April to be Auctioneer's Month. As always, it seems that auctioneers are one of his favorite groups to meet with. As the governor tells it, his father thought he was quite the talker and would make a great auctioneer. He actually went to auction school, but in the end decided to go to law school.

The latest iSeries educational seminar from the NAA features Krista Shuman, from Hall and Hall Auctions. She discusses the strategies they've used to win national marketing awards for their auction advertising.

The KAA's 2015 Winter Convention featured a panel discussion of past champions that comprised Kevin Borger; Paul C. Behr, CAI, BAS; Charly Cummings and Megan Niedens, CAI, BAS. We've made the video of this session available in the new video page in the members section. Over the coming weeks, we'll make more videos from convention available to KAA members.

Greetings Fellow Auxiliary Members, It's hard to believe the end of the year is just around the corner. That means it won't be long before we'll be gathering at the Drury Plaza Broadview Hotel in Wichita for the Winter Convention. Mark your calendars and start planning now to attend January 22-25, 2015. Be sure you include the Auxiliary Luncheon and Fun Auction in your plans. Remember, it's a separate item on the registration form. Plan to bring an item to auction at the Fun Auction so you can participate in providing the funds for the scholarships that will be given to some worthy students...

Hello Kansas Auctioneer Friends, Wow, how this year has flown by. It’s hard to believe the holidays are coming and soon I’ll be finishing up my year of presidency. It’s been a great ride and I am so thankful to be having this experience and be working with an incredible Board of Directors. Just last week, we conducted a board meeting and our Annual Livestock Auctioneer Championship. It was a fierce competition. Congratulations to Russele Sleep, our new champion. We had 12 contestants and the contest was conducted at the Emporia Livestock Auction. This committee included Wayne Wischropp, ...

Watch the latest free presentation from the National Auctioneers Association, featuring Mike Brandly, CAI, AARE, who will be one of the KAA's guest speakers at our upcoming Winter Convention in Wichita in January.